Tree of Life, Tree of Death
by Miztical-Dragon
Summary: [Oneshot] Deathfic: It was called the tree of life, the tree of death, but this tree, it was never really there. Just another forest, near another village in the time of Sengoku Jidai.


**Disclaimer: **_Don't own InuYasha, nope, but I do own this story plot, so don't sue!_

_I have nothing to explain why I did this, but I wanted to do something a little different yet the same. I hope you understand this story, but if not that's okay, I don't know if I quite understand it myself. _

**_Tree of life, tree of death_**

By: **_Miztikal-Dragon_**

A fall breeze blew through the forest, causing the leaves to fall from the trees and flutter weightlessly to the ground. It was probably around August, or September, and the fall had already begun to settle in for the long hall. The sun was sinking slowly in the West and soft hues of orange, red, and blue colored the once white clouds in the endless sky. The scenery was quiet and besides the hidden birds singing their songs, there was only the sound of the rustling wind for miles around.

It was steadily growing colder by the minute, and the clouds rolled in as if a storm was near, ruining the beautiful sunset and consuming the area in darkness. The wind began to pick up, pushing against the branches of the trees almost violently and the rustling grew louder as the animals hushed and only the eerie silence was left.

A flash of silver obstructed the vision of a lithe creature and dark brown eyes watched like a hawk, she would not let him escape her this time. Ebony hair was tied up in a high pony tail and the haori adorning her body was a tight like a second skin, this time she was prepared. A long sword sat on her hip and a bow draped over her shoulder, with the arrows strapped to her back, she would have been able to smell him if she was a demon, but alas she wasn't.

It was a game of cat and mouse and both of them knew that it was, yet neither were willing to back down, they were not the type to give in to their enemies. Her eyes hardened to stone as she stared into amber eyes, his claws drenched with blood, her blood, and the bloody tipped arrow clutched in her own, she had been able to get a hit but with a price.

It was more than obvious who would win this match, but she refused to let her injuries slow her down, she had become a warrior and she was the best of the best, she would not back down. Not to him! His silver hair was spotted with blood, stained with the crimson color and her body dropped to the ground as he charged, her sword immediately pulled free and met with hot flesh.

Dirty measures had been taken in order to get him at his current state, and the poison flowing through his veins would kill even the strongest of youkai, and there was no way to escape it, she had seen what happened to those who tried. Muscles would turn to mush, leaving the victim paralyzed, but still able to breathe. Then when he would be laying there looking up at the sky, she would stand over him and smile before bringing her sword down on his head and ending his life. It was a form of revenge, yet it wasn't.

He had left her alone to die and if she wanted to, she would do the same to him. An eye for an eye, a heart for a heart, and the bastard would pay for everything he had done to her. A loud hiss rang in the air and glancing back over her shoulder, she pivoted and swung her arm, her sword flying as her body spun, she was going after his torso. However he was not yet helpless and easily evaded it, still able to summon the strength to lash his claws against once pale skin and send her sprawling onto her back in the green grass.

For a human her sight was impeccable at night, but she wasn't able to see him as he stood straddled her, his tainted hair coming down like a curtain around their faces. His breath was coming out in heavy pants as well as her own and she knew that the poison she had killed for was beginning to take its toll on him, he was dying. Emotions flashed across his eyes that she recognized, emotions that she believed were impossible to be seen and she bit back the urge to give in.

It was too late, he had already killed her on the inside and she would make sure that she did the same to him, however, more permanently. He was angry at her no doubt, his claws digging into the flesh of her wrists and drawing more blood, but she could only muster up a frown of hatred, she just couldn't let herself fall apart now after everything, she had to finish what she started, she just had to!

The bow she carried dug into her back and the arrows were broken, she knew they were and now they would be completely useless. His fangs were bared and he growled at her, uncharacteristic yes, but then again it wasn't for the situation they were currently in. Muscles twitched and she struggled in his iron clad hold, before she used what he had once taught her against him. His cry of pain was loud and he skidded back, his body lurching and trembling as she quickly climbed to her feet.

It had been years since she had seen him, years, and she had grown up. No longer was she the girl who was easily swayed by her emotions, no more smiles, no more anything happy like that. She was ice, she was like stone, hard and cold, she was everything he had once been and more. His amber eyes burned into her and she picked up the broken bow, she would be able to fix it before he was able to rise and she did easily.

She knew that he was defeated, and he knew it too, but he wasn't ready to die yet, not with out taking her with him. Sure she didn't expect to live past the night, the slash marks across her abdomen stinging with every move she made, yet she would hold on until the job was finished.

With the bow restrung, she picked up one of the discarded arrows and bit on her lower lip to ease the pain she felt. It was nothing compared to what she had felt when she was younger, what pain he had inflicted on her, but it still hurt. Tears stung the back of her eyes and the wind blew loose strands of her hair across her face, he would be hers.

He was on his hands and knees, his claws digging into the grass and his amber eyes staring at her like she was someone he wasn't familiar with, and she wasn't. She had become what she always hated because of him, he had made her the way that she was and it was his fault why he had to die. It was his fault that she hated him, and the reason why there was no such thing as a happy ending.

Trust, she had placed every ounce that she had in him and it was thrown away. Nothing could take away the pain and the tears of what he did, of what his actions paved for her life. Years of pain, death, heartache, and betrayal, that's what he gave her, that's all that was left for her after he left. It would have been better if she had died, but she didn't and it made her stronger, it made her hatred for him stronger and now she couldn't control her emotions.

He was dying in front of her and it killed a part of her, tore her apart but she gathered her bearings, she didn't have feelings of love for him, those feelings had died a long time ago. They weren't allowed to resurface, they weren't acceptable, love was for the weak, for the stupid, and she would not allow herself to go back to that place where it all seemed to be a dream.

She was a murderer, slayer of demons and humans, she didn't care whether it was women or children, they all had to die if they opposed her. Sound familiar? Yes, it should because that's how he used to act, how he used to be and she had become him, the evil of his heart had been stolen by a mere human.

Caught off guard by him, she barely was able to blink before he was gone, his blood stained haori fading into the distance. Following suit, she docked her bow and let the arrow fly, hitting her target in the arm before repeating the task. Three arrows didn't take him down, but six did and he collapsed to the ground, his body held up by a large tree.

The place was like a place from her memories as her sandals walked the dirt path, the two of them were now surrounded by trees in a dirt path. Her eyes shifted to the sides before resting on his spasming body, it was taking affect and he wouldn't have much longer until he was a lump of the living dead. Her eyes narrowed as she towered over him, her sword left standing straight in the dirt.

He was no longer the strong person she had believed her was and his eyes glared at her with hatred and something else that she couldn't quite read, but it didn't matter. She would have his head, and the blood in his veins would flow into the earth as she slowly killed him.

"I've been waiting so long for this moment," She said bitterly glaring down at him.

"Kill me now, or you will die," his voice was as cold as ice and it made chills run up her spine. "I'm not a animal you can play with before you decide to break my neck. You wanted this so do what you have to or I'll finish this once and for all."

"This is your fault!" She cried out angrily, her tears swelling in her eyes. "Don't you dare try and make yourself look dignified you bastard! You're the one who left me! You're the one who ran away from me when I needed you the most! You're the one who said that you loved me only to leave me while I lay sleeping!"

She could feel all the pent up self loathing and pain swelling in her head and as the tears fell, the anger took their place. He was the one who took advantage of her, used her for what he wanted and left! He was the one who broke her heart and abandoned her, this wasn't her fault and there was no way she would let him pin this on her.

"This 'love' you speak of, it's not one that I can give myself to. You knew that and yet you still opened your arms to me, it's as much your fault as it is mine and you know it!"

"NO!" She screamed docking the arrow and aiming it at him, her eyes blurred with tears. "You're the one who said you loved me first! I've always loved you and could have, we could have, but you were too damn fucking stubborn! I can't let you live knowing that you're the reason for my suffering! I can't be happy because I can't have you! I won't allow myself to become miserable while you stay alive acting as though I was nothing but the dirt on the bottom of your shoes!"

Something in his eyes changed and his chest fell, and it unnerved her, what was he doing? He wasn't who he used to be, something changed and she was almost disgusted and pitied him at the same time. It was as if their roles in life had become reversed, a paradox of what was supposed to be. The once strong had become the weak and frail and the weak and frail had become the strong, oh the irony right? His eyes closed for a moment and she could feel a lump forming in her throat.

"What more do you want from me?" He asked simply.

"I want the truth!" She pulled the bow string back further, her brown eyes never leaving amber. "I want to know why you left me!"

"Because demons can't love humans!" His voice was harsh and for a moment he had become is old self once again.

Surprised by the anger and truth behind his words, her body went into shock and the bow string was snapped from her finger tips, the arrow flying and pinning him to the tree he leaned against. Her eyes were wide with horror as the arrow tore through the flesh of his shoulder, the loud snapping as metal broke bone and embedded itself deep into the wood.

"Why?" she whispered softly, the bow clattering to the ground.

"Because," his amber orbs were clear and she could almost feel the tears that slipped from his eyes. "I wasn't good enough."

It was over, and his body stopped trembling and went slack, his amber eyes still staring at her with a pained expression hidden in them. She had gotten what she had wanted for so long, but now, now she didn't know what she wanted. His words, they threw her off, they were like cold water being thrown onto her and she didn't know how to react. However, it was too late, he was gone for good.

The pain in her side came back and she could now completely feel it as it burned and stung, she had gotten what she wanted. He was dead, dead, and now there was nothing left. No life, nothing to live for, it was all empty, she was empty. His words had blew her away and she hated herself, and she hated him. It was his thinking and his attitude that torn them apart before they could have been allowed to blossom.

It could have been true love, and deep down the knowledge of knowing he did feel something a kin to love for her hurt deeper than his abandonment. Demon's could love humans, they could, and they did, but he had always been stuck on the misfortune of his family. Everything for them always ended in despair and he could have avoided it, he could have, but no. He gave up before even trying and for him that was something she never thought possible.

Unable to hold back her pain, she screamed out into the heavens, cursing them for the fate she had been given. It wasn't fair! Feeling light-headed, she crawled over to where he was pinned to the tree and laid her head in his chest. She could remember vaguely why everything looked so familiar and she bitterly wept as her blood seeped from her fatal wound. This dirt path led to the village where she had grown up as an orphan, it was the exact spot where she had died and where he had given her life.

Clutching the stained white haori in her fingertips, she held onto him, it wasn't supposed to be this way. If only he hadn't left her, things could have been different, death wouldn't have been the answer. Cursing him and herself, she let herself drift into the darkness, this was it for her, for them both, and the end of everything.

"Sesshomaru," She sniffled hiding her face in his chest like she used to when she was younger. "I'm sorry-"

The wind stole the last breath from her lips and her eyes closed for the last time. This is where they would lay for an eternity, paying the price for the love they could not share. A demon and a human, a forbidden love that cause more than the destruction of each other. It was a tale that would be told from one generation to the next, each time with a different variation, a different meaning, but that all revolved around Rin and her Sesshomaru.

Some say that it was the tree that they ended up giving their lives to that had given them the chance to live as they should have. The tree that also had been capable of taking it all away in a single moment. It was called the tree of life, the tree of death, but this tree, it was never really there. Just another forest, near another village in the time of Sengoku Jidai.

_**End. **_

_**E/N:** Yep that's it... it's only a one-shot what do you expect? I think I cried a little, but that's expected, I'm kind of emotional. Well I honestly don't know why I decided to write this, and I'm really tired... it's like two in the morning and I have school in like 6 or so hours... bah! Gunna work on "Getting to know you" and "Back to you" on my days off, so look for new chapters (maybe) okey dokey? _

_Please leave a reivew, whether it be flame or not, I just wanna know what you guys thought of it! Thanks for reading!  
_

_-Krystal-_


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